Exceeding Expectations: ETSI Open Source MANO Group Releases One Month Early

A number of major Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) community projects have launched during the last three years, attracting a large number of initial participant members. Open Source MANO (OSM) is no exception and has been successful in creating immediate traction and interest with more than 35 member companies joining the initiative in the first two months following community kick-off.

The OSM community has an immediate focus on delivering tangible code and documentation. Almost unheard of in major open source projects, OSM even delivered its first release one month early, a clear indicator of the commitment of this operator-led initiative to buckle down and make the creation of substantive, usable code a top priority. In addition, a comprehensive set of documentation for both developers and end users is available to facilitate the immediate use of the OSM release. Importantly, this includes a first set of Data Model definitions for the Virtual Network Function Descriptor (VNFD) and Network Service Descriptor (NSD).

Creating a stable and predictable framework for software innovation is key to making the initial success of an open source project last. Nothing is more effective in separating the open source code wheat from the slide deck chaff than a predictable software delivery engine.

In addition to readying the inaugural OSM release one month early, the end-user and technical leadership groups have agreed to a scope and time roadmap to make the next set of MANO software innovation available by the end of this summer. With the upcoming release, OSM is tackling key industry pain points, including the lack of standardization to deploy NFV, complicated Virtual Network Function (VNF) onboarding and workload placement scenarios, and complex integration models. With such a clear mission and vision, the OSM community is sure to continue its strong growth path to attract additional end-user and software solution vendors.

To learn more about OSM and MANO Data Models, please visit osm.etsi.org.